There are skills that every designer, and every architect, must master in order to ensure a solid basis for design. These skills are explored in their first couple years of design education and represent, arguably, the most important part of an architects education. Issues such as form, rhythm, order, space, datum and hierarchy are introduced and are integrated into the students lexicon. Additionally, analog and digital skills are introduced and mastered to help the students in clearly representing their design ideas and to become experts are communication through the medium of architectural drawings and models. The student work represented herein demonstrates my passion for this part of a students education and outlines some of the projects that most clearly express the introduction of foundational design ideas and methods.

This master planning project was designed and built upon previous projects executed by the students and focuses on the manipulation of a tartan grid system. Through a series of analog and digital diagramming exercise the students study to formal and informal organizational characteristics of a small complex of buildings. The articulation of the building and structural behaviors of the structures was explored digitally through the utilization of a component based approach.

The Masonry Pavilion project focuses on a unitized material approach to design as the students must utilize a standard set of masonry elements to design and ultimately plan the construction of their pavilion designs. Each student must confront and design within the units constraints to articulate a diverse architectural construct.

The Case Study is a critically important part in the education of an architect. The ability to read and interpret architecture is a skill paramount when investigating famous works but also grants one the ability to become self critical, perhaps the most important skill that can be gained while in school. The projects within the section illustrate the Case Study at various levels throughout the curricula at UNCC and Clemson universities and are noted as such.

A series of three skills based exercises previously created the freshman design studio at Clemson University. These exercises introduce the students to the utilization of the physical tools of architecture, different modes of thinking and the interpretation of an environment as well as to human occupation. Outlined herein, these exercises touch on many of the issues that the student will encounter in their coming education.